Category Archives: Uncategorized

I love that my girls are growing up watching and joining me in fun fitness activities.

I love hearing stories from other moms, especially those who are committed to living a healthy lifestyle and raising a healthy family. I’m very inspired by other moms and I love to hear how they stay committed to setting a healthy example for their little ones and raising a healthy family.

Today we’re hearing from Motivating Mom Alyssa

If you’d like to be featured as a Motivating Mom, send a message to Exploring Domesticity on Facebook or email exploringdomesticity(at)gmail(dot)com with the subject, “Motivating Mommas.”

Stonyfield has long been focused on conservation and sustainability. This year, they are supporting the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and sponsoring the AZA SAFE program (Saving Animals From Extinction). The Stonyfield AZA sponsorship is focused on getting young children excited about saving endangered species by giving away free admission to AZA-accredited zoo or aquariums!

One of the best things about the Art of Animation Resort is The Big Blue Pool and exploring the amazing decor at Cars Suites, Nemo Suites, Lion King Suites, and Little Mermaid rooms. We spent one of the days at during our stay at Walt Disney World exploring the Art of Animation Resort and swimming at The Big Blue Pool.

We took a lot of pictures around the resort, and even made a unique (and fun!) souvenir for ourselves. With one of the colorful and fun pictures, we made a personalized puzzle from our vacation and had so much fun putting it together! Stick around to the end of the post for the Piczzle Giveaway so you can win your own!!

Each year, we try to make at least one fantastic dining reservation while we are at Walt Disney World. This year, we decided to try dinner at O’hana at the Polynesian Resort. The food was delicious, but read on to see if I thought it was worth the price or good for kids…

Just last week I showed you how easy it is to become an Amazon Reviewer and start getting tons of quality product for free. Well, this week I’m showing you some of my Amazon freebies and giving you a chance to choose your favorite prize pack with the Autumn Wins Giveaway Hop!

There are a slew of other amazing products to win as well through this hop, so be sure to click through and enter to win everything!!

I needed some time with the kiddos before this new school year, and I just completely dropped my little space instead of leaving any word. So, I thought I’d do so now because, with the new school year here, I’m determined to get back to my happy place and I just wanted you to know I’ll be returning soon!!

I have a lot of fun things in the works and am looking forward to being back. If you follow my social channels, you know I never really left, but I’m looking forward to spending some time to share what we’ve been up to!

This post may contain affiliate links and I was offered free product for sharing my opinions with you. I appreciate your support and only give you my honest opinion.

Refreshing enough for summer and a nice red and green for the holidays, this Cranberry Moscow Mule is perfect year-round!

With Christmas just days away, a Cranberry Moscow Mule would be the perfect holiday cocktail in the traditional copper mug, or make a large batch for a beautiful red and green punch. It tastes delicious in non-alcoholic form, but add a bit if vodka or a ginger beer to make it even more of a celebration.

I love an easy and delicious cocktail and this three-ingredient Non-Alcoholic Cranberry Moscow Mule is both! Or go traditional with the Traditional Moscow Mule recipe with some cranberry added. Yum!

Cranberry Moscow Mule

4oz Cranberry Juice

8oz Ginger Ale (or Ginger beer)

Lime wedge – 1/4 – 1/6 of the lime

1 oz vodka (optional)

Non-Alcoholic Cranberry Moscow Mule

Mix cranberry juice and ginger ale and serve over ice.

Squeeze the lime wedge over the glass, throw the wedge inside and stir.

Serve inside the adorable copper Moscow Mule mug. I got mine from Inspired Basics. They gave me this one free for this review, but I definitely need a whole set. I’m in love! How cute are they!?

These cups require a little care, but are so cute I think they’re worth it. They are 100% copper and come with a lifetime guarantee, but they should be hand-washed and you should be careful to rinse out acidic drinks.

So, take care of those mugs before passing out from too many Moscow Mules!

The cups get very cold! My husband came in from the garage and I gave him a sip and he said his lips nearly stuck to the glass. My drink was definitely kept cold for quite a while.

Traditional Moscow Mule – with cranberry

For a more traditional Moscow Mule – and the alcoholic version – mix vodka with other ingredients, before adding the lime.

The traditional Moscow Mule calls for Ginger Beer, but I’m still unclear on whether that is the soft drink or fermented ginger beer…

Had my husband found it at the store, we would have tried this with Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale, which I have yet to try. Have you tried Not Your Father’s Root Beer? Yum! …and dangerous, tastes just like root beer!

I’ve seen the Music Together signs all over our town for a while and I always thought of taking my little ones there. I finally got a chance to try out a class as a Moms Meet Blogger. I also have a great giveaway from Moms Meet and Music Together, so stay to the end!!

As you may remember from my last post, I left town with the kids and totally forgot that I would miss a review deadline for Moms Meet and Frosch Dishwashing Liquid.

Luckily, my husband doesn’t join us until Thanksgiving so I sweet-talked him into trying it out for me.

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agree to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of this product.They reflect the insanely helpful and expansive opinions of my husband…

Here’s what I know

Frosch Diswashing Liquid is a vegan moisturizing hand dishwashing liquid that works efficiently and is gentle on your skin.

Dermatologically tested to maintain the moisture balance of the skin, Frosch Diswashing Liquid is pH-skin neutral.

I then asked him to clear off the back of the sink, take three pictures from different angles and send them to me. His reply?

“You’re killing me.”

He did such a nice job watching dishes and beautifully clearing off our normally cluttered counter, I made sure to tell him I also have a review to do for the Frosch Toilet Bowl Cleaner as well…

I’m looking forward to testing out the other Frosch products myself when we get back. Although, I wouldn’t mind if he wanted to test them out before we got home… Here’s what I know about them.

Frosch Aloe Vera Dishwashing Liquid is ideal for people with sensitive skin due to the calming effects of the Aloe Vera extracts, which help to maintain the moisture balance of the skin while cleaning your dishes and leaving a mild and fresh scent.

Frosch Lavender Universal Cleaner cleans and sanitizes floors and most washable surfaces in the household. This Powerful formula with lavender removes grease and dirt and offers reliable and residue-free cleaning.

I’ve lost my drive, I’ve had other things take priority, and I’ve been missing out on real moments with my little ones…

I’m so in love with this little space to share, meet wonderful people, learn and experience new things that are great for our family, and let my creativity out. But I have to tell ya, it’s a lot of work. It’s even more work to learn to do it right. I’ve been devoting so much of my time and energy to this blog, the social channels to go with it, and trying to figure out how I can do it just right that all my passion and efforts start to pay off…

Well…. Right now, that’s not happening… I’ve been devoting more time to my hourly work-from-home gig and trying to be more present with my kiddos.

I’m on vacation and I read two books this week.

This. is. huge.

I used to read all the time and kids got in the way, but mostly, every waking moment was spent on my ipad writing blog posts, editing pictures, keeping up with social channels, etc. This week, I’ve done work solely from my bulky computer, kept the Instagram posts to a minimum, and picked up a book each night instead of my ipad.

It feels amazing.

How many of you bloggers can relate to feeling torn between loving sharing and community, and feeling like you would be happier without the self-imposed stress of blogging?

Well, this break has been fantastic! I’ve swam with my kiddos, I’ve watched them play without them having to lift my eyes from a screen, we’ve eaten meals without Mom stopping to take a picture, and I’ve gotten more sleep than I’ve had in a long time. I’m not sure how this makes me feel…

Before I decide the fate of this blog, I have a couple obligations to fulfill and I have some more vacation time and a little while longer to think on this. Some of the things I would miss the most about leaving the blogging world would be the amazing opportunities it gives you to learn and share about my favorite companies.

As a Moms Meet Blogger, I’ve gotten to review some great products for the healthy and green family I hope to raise and before we left for vacation, I got a fantastic package from Frosche. Being the crazy time that it was, I had to leave the review to my husband because I forgot to take the products with us. I also have the opportunity to share a fantastic fall giveaway with you as a Balance Bar Insider. Therefore, I’m going to combine the two and share my fantastic news that I am now a Momentum Ambassador!

Do you see why it is so hard for me to give up all this fun!?

So, without further ado a Balance Bar giveaway with some yummy peanut butter bites that I tried for the first time, my fave chocolate mint, and cookie dough. Yum! You’ll have to wait until tomorrow for what I’m sure will be a thrilling review from a husband about dish soap.

As the days get shorter & colder, it can be easy to crave indulgent comfort foods. With Balance Bar, you can still indulge in decadent flavors like cookie dough and chocolate mint, but also have the balanced nutrition your body needs to stay energized and satisfied. Balance Bars are based on the 40-30-30 nutrition principle (40% of total calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 30% from dietary fat). 40-30-30 is a proven formula developed by scientists to provide sustained, balanced energy and help satisfy hunger for longer.